Scimitar Oryx

The scimitar oryx is a member of the genus Oryx and the family Bovidae. German naturalist Lorenz Oken first described it in 1816, naming it Oryx algazel. The nomenclature has undergone various changes since then, with the introduction of names such as Oryx tao, O. leucoryx, O. damma, O. dammah, O. bezoarticus, and O. ensicornis. In 1826, Philipp Jakob Cretzschmar used the name Oryx ammah for the species. A year later, the name Oryx leucoryx came into use, but as this was a synonym of the Arabian oryx (then called Oryx beatrix), it was abandoned, and Oryx algazel was accepted once more. Over 100 years later in 1951, Sir John Ellerman and Terence Morrison-Scott found that the name Oryx algazel was also ineligible for use. Finally, in January 1956, the International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature accepted Oryx dammah as the scientific name. No more changes have been made since then, though many papers published after 1956 created confusion by using names such as O. gazella tao. Its scientific name, Oryx dammah, is derived from: Ancient Greek ('), meaning a gazelle or antelope (originally a pickaxe); Latin ' (fallow deer or antelope); and Arabic ' (sheep). which resemble scimitars. Its common name in English is "scimitar-horned oryx", or simply "scimitar oryx".

]] The scimitar oryx has 58 chromosomes - one pair of large submetacentric autosomes and 27 acrocentric autosomal pairs. The X and Y chromosomes are the largest and smallest acrocentrics. The first molecular study of this species (published in 2007) observed genetic diversity among European, North American, and some other captive groups. Divergence was found within the mitochondrial DNA haplotypes, and was estimated to have taken place between 2.1 and 2.7 million years ago. Population increases occurred about 1.2 and 0.5 million years ago. In another study, intended to note genetic differences between Oryx species, karyotypes of Oryx species and subspecies – namely O. gazella, O. b. beisa, O. b. callotis, O. dammah, and O. leucoryx – were compared with the standard karyotype of Bos taurus. The number of autosomes in all karyotypes was 58. The X and Y chromosomes were conserved in all five species.

The scimitar oryx is a straight-horned antelope that stands just over at the shoulder. The males weigh and the females . The body measures from the head to the base of the tail. The tail is long and ends with a tuft. They are sexually dimorphic with males being larger than females. Its coat is white with a red-brown chest and black markings on the forehead and down the length of the nose. The coat reflects the sun's rays, while the black portions and the tip of the tongue provide protection against sunburn. The white coat helps to reflect the heat of the desert. Both male and female oryxes have horns, with the females' being more slender. At Smithsonian National Zoo, a female oryx died at 21, an exceptional age since females generally have a lifespan of about 15 years.

The scimitar oryx can be infected with cryptosporidiosis, a parasitic disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Cryptosporidium in the phylum Apicomplexa. A study in 2004 revealed that C. parvum or similar organisms infected 155 mammal species, including the scimitar oryx. An analysis in 2005 found Cryptosporidium parasites in stool samples from 100 mammals, including the scimitar oryx. Oocysts of a new parasite, Eimeria oryxae, have been discovered in the feces of a scimitar oryx from Zoo Garden in Riyadh. In France, Streptococcus uberis was isolated for the first time in an oryx. It had caused vegetative endocarditis in the animal, leading to fatal congestive heart failure.

The scimitar oryx was a very sociable animal and traveled in herds of two to 40 individuals, generally, led by a dominant bull. This species once gathered in groups of several thousand for migration. During the wet season, they migrated north into the Sahara. Scimitar oryx are diurnal. In the cool early mornings and evenings, they rest under trees and shrubs, or if neither is available, they dig depressions in the soil with their hooves and rest there. Males fight often, but not for long and not violently. Predators, such as lions, leopards, hyenas, cheetahs, golden jackals, vultures, and Cape hunting dogs, mostly kill weak and young oryx.

, Hampshire, UK]] With a metabolism that functions at the high temperatures prevalent in their habitats, scimitar oryxes need less water for evaporation to help conduct heat away from the body, enabling them to go for long periods without water. They can allow their body temperatures to rise to almost before beginning to perspire.

Both males and females reach sexual maturity at 18-24 months of age. Courting is done by means of a mating circle; the male and female stand parallel to one another, facing in opposite directions, and then circle around each other until the female allows the male to mount from behind. If the female is not ready to mate, she runs away and circles in the reverse direction. Copulation is completed in about 10 seconds. Females mate again during their postpartum estrus; thus, they can produce one calf a year. Gestation lasts about nine months, after which a single calf is born, weighing . Twin births are very rare - only 0.7% of the births observed in one study. The mother returns to the herd while the calf hides out at some distance from the herd. The female separates herself from the herd for a few hours while she nurses the calf and cleans the calf as it defecates. Weaning starts at 3.5 months, and the young become fully independent around 14 weeks old.

The scimitar oryx once inhabited grassy steppes, semideserts and deserts in a narrow strip of central north Africa (especially in Niger and Chad).

in Hampshire, Great Britain]] Following the Neolithic Subpluvial, around 7500 to 3500 BC, the "green Sahara" became dry and the scimitar oryx's population began to decline due to a loss of suitable habitat. This was further exacerbated by humans who hunted the scimitar oryx for both its meat and horns. The northern population was already almost lost before the 20th century. With the introduction of horses and firearms during the 20th century, nomadic hunters were able to decimate populations. The decline of the southern population accelerated as Europeans began to settle the area and hunt them for meat, hides, and horn trophies. French involvement in World War II Roadkill, nomadic settlements near watering holes (the oryx's dry-season feeding places), and introduction of cattle and firearms for easy hunting have also reduced numbers. The IUCN lists the scimitar oryx as extirpated in Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Tunisia, and Western Sahara, and has assessed it as extinct in the wild since 2000. Reports of sightings in Chad and Niger remain unsubstantiated, despite extensive surveys carried out throughout Chad and Niger from 2001 to 2004 in an effort to detect antelopes in the Sahel and the Sahara. At least until 1985, 500 scimitar oryxes were estimated to be surviving in Chad and Niger, but by 1988, only a few individuals survived in the wild. In 2015, about 1,750 captives were managed as part of breeding programs; at the program's peak, up to 11,000 were kept in Texas farms and 4,000 were held in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. Sidi Toui National Park (1999) and Oued Dekouk National Park (1999) in Tunisia; Souss-Massa National Park (1995) in Morocco; and Ferlo Faunal Reserve (1998) and Guembeul Wildlife Reserve (1999) in Senegal. At 78,000 km2 - equivalent to the size of Scotland - Ouadi Rimé Ouadi Achim is one of the world's largest protected areas. The first group was released at the beginning of 2016 in an acclimation enclosure and then fully released in the wild in the rainy season. The Tunisian reintroductions began in 1985 with 10 scimitar oryx from the Marwell and Edinburgh Zoos (co-ordinated by ZSL). In 1999 and 2007, Marwell co-ordinated the release of scimitar oryx into three more protected areas within their former historic range.

, from The History of Four-footed Beasts and Serpents by Edward Topsell]]

In ancient Egypt, scimitar oryxes were domesticated or tamed, possibly to be used as offerings for religious ceremonies or as food. They were called ran and bred in captivity. In ancient Rome, they were kept in paddocks and used for coursing, and wealthy Romans ate them. The scimitar oryx was the preferred quarry of Sahelo-Saharan hunters. Its hide is considered high-quality, and the king of Rio de Oro sent 1,000 shields made of it to a contemporary in the Middle Ages. Since then, it has been used to make ropes, harnesses, and saddlery.

The myth of the one-horned unicorn may have originated from sightings of injured scimitar oryxes; Aristotle and Pliny the Elder held that the oryx was the unicorn's "prototype". From certain angles, the oryx may seem to have one horn rather than two, and given that its horns are made from hollow bone that cannot be regrown, if a scimitar oryx were to lose one of its horns, for the rest of its life it would have only one.

In 2015, Yellow Nose, a scimitar oryx that lives in Portland, Oregon, escaped and startled hikers in Forest Park. The following day, he was caught and returned home.